In a move that is possibly indicative of who Finland's starter will be for the upcoming World Junior Championships, [url=http://www.finhockey.fi/taustasivut/artikkeliarkisto/?num=179088]Karri Ramo defeated Latvia 3-1 yesterday in exhibition play.[/url] Finland outshot Latvia by over a 4 to 1 margin leaving Ramo to make just 8 saves on a miniscule 9 shots.

If they had played 60 minutes of hockey instead of 30, they'd have won this game.
TB-2
NYR-4
It was surprising to see this Lightning team come out so flat in the first period considering what transpired in the game against Carolina. The good news is that, despite the loss, I think John Grahame played very well stopping 32 of 35. He made a handful of very good saves late in the 2nd period that gave the Lightning an opportunity to steal a point or two. But, alas, their penalty kill was running around a bit when Tom Poti blasted a slapshot from the high slot right up Broadway to win the game.
Ryan Craig has already settled into John Tortorella's regular rotation with 14:42 of ice time tonight and 1 shot on goal. He's exceptional at mucking on the forecheck below the goal line as he demonstrated again tonight, however his skating is a liability on the rush as evidenced by a turnover he made in the second period when a Ranger defenseman simply stepped up, not respecting his skating, took the puck and sent his team away on an odd man rush that nearly resulted in a goal and did result in Paul Ranger taking a penalty.
Ranger played a stronger, more physical game tonight and was reqarded with more ice time. He was a -1 in 19:27 tonight blocking three shots. Evgeny Artyukhin played a more modest 8:49 with one shot on goal and sat for much of the second half of the game after taking a goaltender interference penalty while driving to the net on a one-on-one play. Darren Reid had one shot on goal in 3:38 of ice time. As with Tarnasky earlier this season, I don't believe it is positive to play a prospect so little over a long period of time. I'm sure Reid isn't complaining about the extra zeros on his paycheck, but it's not the best for his development if Torts doesn't have enough faith in Reid to play him more than the six shifts he got tonight.
For the Lightning as a whole, it doesn't get any easier with Buffalo next on tap. Hard to believe, but the Lightning have now allowed more goals this season than they've scored with an overall differential of -1 on the season.
Game sheet from [url=http://www.nhl.com/standings/index.html]NHL.com.[/url]

Stanislav Lascek's Chicoutimi Sangueneens of the QMJHL [url=http://www.lhjmq.qc.ca/lang_en/index.php?page=232&id_nouvelle=919&PHPSESSID=079d33dfcd943d9da0b02bbf6aac3932]remain in first place[/url] in the latest Bank of Montreal CHL rankings. The Sangueneens have been in the #1 slot for three weeks in a row now and currently hold a 26-7-1-2 record this season. Lascek leads the way for the Sangueneens and the QMJHL as a whole with 78 points in 35 games. Lascek and his teammate Marek Zagrapan will be featured performers for Team Slovakia in the upcoming U-20 World Junior Championships. The Bank of Montreal rankings are decided through the votes of a panel of NHL scouts.
Stanislav Lascek currently ranks in the top-10 in the QMJHL in all of the following statistical categories:
Points (1st)
Goals (10th)
Assists (1st)
Plus/minus (6th)
Shorthanded goals (T-7th)
Shots on goal (2nd)

Team Germany has announced that defenseman Sascha Goc will represent that nation's contingent at the Olympics in Turin as well.
Surprisingly, defenseman Timo Helbling [url=http://www.iihf.com/news/iihfpr0606.htm]was not selected to join Team Switzerland for the games.[/url]

TSN.ca is reporting the Finnish national team [url=http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/news_story/?ID=147920&hubname=]has named Lightning overage goaltending prospect Fredrik Norrena its third string netminder for the Turin Olympics.[/url] Norrena beat out the Flyers' Antero Nittymaki and Bruins' Hannu Toivonen, among others, for the honor.

[url=http://www.hockeysfuture.com/article.php?sid=8155&mode=threaded&order=0]This[/url] may be the first competent piece of work that Hockey's Future has published about the Tampa Bay Lightning in over a year. Kudos to Tanya Lyon for having the skill to write it, and even more so to somehow get it approved by the biased individual who currently occupies the online editorial position on the site. Yes indeed, the much maligned Lightning prospect system IS churning out NHL caliber players at a clip that the lazy reporting that went into HF's organizational rankings would lead many to believe was impossible. Here's to hoping the powers that be have finally had an epiphany. Or, if not, that the Lightning's four prospects slated to play at the upcoming WJC's further embarass HF into having one.

Kelowna LW Justin Keller [url=http://whl.ca/news/?id=3524&showToc=1&]was named WHL player of the week for December 12th through December 18th.[/url] Keller had 5 goals and 1 assist in three games for the week. On the season, he currently ranks in the top-10 in the WHL in all of the following statistical categories:
Points (4th)
Goals (3rd)
Power Play Goals (T-1st)
Game Winning Goals (T-3rd)
Insurance Goals (T-5th)
The 2004 8th round pick with turn 20 in March and should be signed this summer with a view towards developing next season in the AHL.

Because of their more marginal status in the Tampa Bay Lightning's future plans, Bolt Prospects has not blogged real time daily updates on prospects playing in the Czech Republic, Germany, Switzerland, Norway or at the Upper League level or below in Russia. We do, however, update these players' progress every month or two in an informal statistical update. With all but Russia still on hiatus until after Christmas, now is as good a time as any for such an update.

The Springfield Falcons [url=http://www.falconsahl.com/detpages/pressbox2851.shtml]have announced the recall of forwards Adam Henrich and Justin Kelly.[/url] Henrich, who turns 22 in mid January, has 6 goals and 13 points in 23 games this season in the ECHL. The 24 year old Kelly leads Johnstown in scoring with 11 goals and 28 points in 21 games for the team this season. The recalls come as a consequence of Ryan Craig and Darren Reid's recalls to Tampa from the Falcons.

Diaper dandies Lada Togliatti began the post-Rosno Cup portion of their schedule much like they played the weeks leading into it. Goaltender Vasily Koshechkin improved his overall record to 14-4-2 this season beating Severstal Cherepovets 2-1. Koshechkin has been the backbone of a Togliatti team which continues its improbable run through the Russian Superleague despite having an average age of less than 22 years old.